Jim O’Brien always admired Allen Iverson from afar as the 76ers’ diminutive point guard consistently ranked among the league leaders in minutes per game and maintained a high level of play.

But entering his first season as the head coach in Philadelphia, O’Brien also knew that Iverson was in his ninth season as a pro and coming off of a summer when he played in the Olympics.

“We were definitely worried about how he would hold up,” O’Brien said. “Especially at this point of the season. Fortunately, he hasn’t changed.”

Instead, he may have gotten better. Iverson has been almost tireless in his effort to get the Sixers back into the postseason.

The Sixers were trying to clinch a playoff berth with a win over the Nets at the Meadowlands last night. They were coming off of six wins in seven games and even held out hope of catching the Pacers for the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference.

The recent run of success has come in part because the team has adjusted to Chris Webber’s presence.

“Whenever you make a big trade at the deadline like we did, it’s going to take a while to get used to,” O’Brien said. “But that’s what’s happening now.”

Even more important has been Iverson’s recent performance.

In Philadelphia’s two most recent wins entering last night’s game, he had scored 81 points and played 97 minutes – including 53 in an overtime victory in Indiana.

“He’s been that way the whole year,” O’Brien said of Iverson, who leads the league with 30.8 points per game. “He’s spectacu lar. To put up the kind of numbers and the leadership, I know his name isn’t mentioned much as an MVP can didate, but I couldn’t imagine life without him.”

O’Brien noticed a similar player in the Nets’ locker room – Vince Carter.

“He’s as good an offensive weapon as there is in the NBA,” O’Brien said of Carter. “He’s putting up gigantic numbers every night.”

But not the same as Iverson.

“Allen has an unbelievable degree of stamina,” O’Brien said. “I don’t know that I’ve ever seen anything close to the amount of stamina he’s shown with this much on the line. He’s all about fast-paced basketball and for him to do this for such an extended period of time is impressive.”

Lawrence Frank, whose team was in dire need of a win last night, knew Iverson would be hard to stop.

“It’s hard to imagine him playing at a higher level,” Frank said.

O’Brien doesn’t think he needs to.

“He’s doing everything we need him to do,” O’Brien said. “Now we just need him to keep doing it.”